My
last flight for hopefully a long while was delayed by a couple of hours which
gave us time to browse the overpriced crap in Hong Kong international! It
seriously was more expensive in duty free than it is in shops back home! After
another, less painful, ten hour flight with the awesome Cathay Pacific crew, we
got to Auckland at about two p.m. local time. That's one a.m. going by the time
that was running in my head after a sleepless flight, thanks to the twat in
front of me who was testing his chair to see quite how much he could reduce my
leg-room by! For a 6"2" guy this was pretty unpleasant and probably
increased my DVT risk!
The
security was interesting in Auckland airport! It took over an hour to get
through the three security checks, to make sure we weren't going to bring mud
in on our boots or go and feed a Kiwi bird a deep fried mars bar! But we
finally made it through where two bright faced IEP (International Exchange
Programmes) people met us. They brought us to the Kiwi Experience bus that
would be taking us to Auckland Central Backpackers. The heat was a welcome
feeling to us after the horrendous downpour we got in Hong Kong, 26 degrees met
us as we walked out of the excessively air conditioned airport! Only one stop
along the way, to observe the fourth most sprawling city in the world from
Mount Eden. It seems Kiwis really value their space, as their biggest city goes
on for miles, gobbling up the suburbs that were once five separate towns.
We
arrived at the ACB at about four were we checked into this massive, ten-story
hostel which really couldn't be more "Central"! Immediately the ents
manager jumped on the jet-lagged and vulnerable, and coerced us into a $10
pizza and beer night in the hostel bar! In all fairness though, unlimited pizza
did come as a welcome three a.m. (jet-lag) shock to my system, as did a hot
shower and a static bed!
Next morning we had to go to an IEP induction
session in a building just across from the hostel. It was pretty basic stuff
but reassuring to hear the facts nonetheless! Three different representatives
talked to us about finding work, the various ways people travel around New
Zealand as well as a basic culture and history lesson (Lonely Planet type
stuff). It took about three hours and I was pretty in the need of some caffeine
by the end of it, lucky there was Starbucks next door! When we arrived back at
the hostel the Kiwis were up in arms getting ready for the Blackcaps
twenty-twenty-cricket game against England. They spent about ten minutes
calling us “Poms” and telling us how badly we were going to loose, so we
thought we would head out to Eden Park to see this awesome Kiwi victory!
We arrived just after the game started at about
19:15, England had won the toss while we were queuing for tickets amongst just
about every jafa (Just another fucking Aucklander) in New Zealand! They chose
to bat and came out with a 200+ score (can’t quite remember the specifics),
despite the abuse being hurled at them from the Kiwis both on the pitch and
off! Craig and I hit up the food/drink stalls during the changeover and queued
for 25mins for a disgusting battered sausage, chips and two beers. Sitting in
the terraces with the food I found out first hand how lethal ketchup can be! Or
rather the guy in front of me in a white T-shirt did!
The Blackcaps (New Zealand’s 2020 team) came out
to a massive roar from the crowd! Practically every person in the place was on his
or her feet for half the innings! That’s when things started to go wrong for
the Blackcaps, Peterson took three wickets in the space of two overs and the
Kiwis just weren’t hitting the big shots. So after fifteen overs of the twenty
we all knew England had this one in the bag! Just time left to head back on bus
filled with drink/angry Blackcap fans!
Wednesday morning and we were on our way to the
beach when the guys ran into this guy Andy who is a driver for the Kiwi
Experience bus. He offered to give us a lift out to a local music festival just
out of town called Groove in the Park. As everywhere else was closed due to
Waitangi day we hopped into his car, a little concerned about how many
celebratory beers he had but still up for a bit of fun…
Groove in the Park was about half an hours drive
with five of us packed into Andy’s company 4x4. The music was really just local
music and a bit crap except for one band called Supergroove, who kind of ripped
of Rage Against the Machine and the Chillis for two hours in the blistering
heat. But the day wasn’t really about the music, we just chilled out in the bar
area and enjoyed our surroundings! It seemed like a good introduction to New
Zealand partying!
We left early to get some food considering the
price of the hot dogs and that we didn’t have much cash left for a ride back to
Auckland. Craig and I eventually found an Asian food store that sold eels, lots
of noodles but more importantly cheap pasta and sauce! Oh and Vegemite for some
awesome packed lunches!
Again on Thursday morning we go up with the
intention of doing something completely different from what we ended up doing
only to find some more fun. There where free Auckland tours from all the major
bus companies which we thought we just hop on but they were already fully
booked so we ended up booking for the following day and asking the reception
woman “what’s good round ‘ere?” …what bunch of tourists! She advised us to take
the ferry somewhere, so down to the terminal we went!
We chose to go out to the volcanic Rangítoto Island
for $20 and left the mainland at about midday. An incredibly windy,
thirty-minute journey and we were at this beautiful island that looked like the
setting for Lord of the Flies or Lost! We hiked for an hour up the dirt track
that meandered through the packed together trees and black volcanic rock left
from the last eruption. The views over Auckland from the highest point in sight
were fantastic. We had to rush back down the mountain so as not to miss the
last ferry at 3:30 but we managed to squeeze in a trip through the volcanic
caves that are half way down the peak. The whole place had an eerie ‘lost’
feeling to it!
We made it back to the hostel that afternoon and
I made a decision (I know miraculous!) to book onto the Kiwi Experience “Full
Monty” ticket. It cost around £500 and gives me pretty much limitless travel
around both islands for a whole year so it seems like the best plan. So I got
ready to go out and about for the first night in Auckland.
We headed to the Globe bar in the basement of
the ACB just for a couple of pints and a pool tournament (I got my ass whipped)
then went on the wander looking for an Irish bar (I don’t know why?!) which we
eventually found down near the docks! They didn’t even serve Guinness!! But
there was a singer playing Nick Drake covers so that was good enough for me!
The last day I spent in Auckland I got up bright
and early for a round of Vegemite on toast and the 7.30 free bus courtesy of
Stray. We got picked up by a loud guy with a half Canadian half Kiwi accent in
a cooling oil powered bus. He was so enthusiastic about everything and
inevitably tried to sell us Stray bus tickets even though we had already booked
with Kiwi Experience!
The tour took us first to the base of the sky
tower where we watch this guy Pablo throw himself off the biggest structure in
the southern hemisphere attached to a cable! Later that afternoon we headed off
to the beach in Davenport for ice creams (Andy is cool) and an incredibly salty
swim! As well as this we went up Mount Eden (again), where we were entertained
by our tour guide getting into a fight with some Koreans ho climbed into the
sacred Maori crater! All in all the tour was worth every penny of what we paid
for it!
Just got packed up and ready for the journey
North that evening! The Bay of Islands is waiting! First stop Paihia!
